Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow in Tonic Solfa
Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 4 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- A major
- Doh
- A
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (A)
- Range
- s, to s (E to E, an octave)
- Tune
- REX GLORIAE
- Words
- Bernhardt Severin Ingemann, Sabine Baring Gould
- Music
- Henry Thomas Smart
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune REX GLORIAE by Henry Thomas Smart (1813–1879); words by Bernhardt Severin Ingemann (1789–1862); translated by Sabine Baring Gould (1834–1924). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| dThrough-s,the-dnight-rof- | mdoubt--fandmsor--rrow- |
| sOn--dward-rgoes-mthef_ | mpil--rgrim-mband,--- |
| mSing--ring-msongs-sof- | dex--t,pec--t,ta--l,tion,- |
| rMarch--ring-sto-t,the- | l,Pro--l,mised-s,Land.--- |
| s,Clear--l,be-t,fore-rus- | dthrough-t,the-l,dark--s,ness- |
| dGleams-rand-mburnsf_sthe- | fgui--mding-rlight:--- |
| dBro--s,ther-dclasps-rthe- | mhand--fofmbro--rther,- |
| sStep--dping-ffear--mless- | rthrough-rthe-dnight.--- |
The solfa line by line
The same solfa as plain text, a line of the hymn at a time, with the words of the first verse under it — easy to copy into your own notes or a WhatsApp message to the choir.
Doh is A · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in A major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Through the night of doubt and sorrow
Onward goes the pilgrim band,
Singing songs of expectation,
Marching to the Promised Land.
Clear before us through the darkness
Gleams and burns the guiding light:
Brother clasps the hand of brother,
Stepping fearless through the night.
One the light of God's own presence,
O'er His ransomed people shed,
Chasing far the gloom and terror,
Bright'ning all the path we tread:
One the object of our journey,
One the faith which never tires,
One the earnest looking forward,
One the hope our God inspires.
One the strain that lips of thousands
Lift as from the heart of one;
One the conflict, one the peril
One the march in God begun:
One the gladness of rejoicing
On the far eternal shore,
Where the One Almighty Father
Reigns in love for evermore.
Onward, therefore, pilgrim brothers,
Onward, with the cross our aid!
Bear its shame, and fight its battle,
Till we rest beneath its shade.
Soon shall come the great awaking,
Soon the rending of the tomb;
Then the scatt'ring of all shadows,
And the end of toil and gloom.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum A and sing d r m f s up from it, so the whole choir has the key in their ears before you start.
- Pitch the first note. The tune starts on d (A).
- Count the time. 4/4 means four crotchet beats in each bar. In the grid every cell is half a crotchet: a dash (–) holds the note before it, and _ is a rest.
- Know the notes. The tune uses d r m f s l t. A comma after a note (s,) is the octave below; an apostrophe (d') is the octave above.
New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.
About the hymn
The words are by Bernhardt Severin Ingemann, first published in 1826. The English translation is by Sabine Baring Gould (1867). The tune, REX GLORIAE, is by Henry Thomas Smart (1868). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1826): Bernhardt Severin Ingemann (1789–1862)
- Translated (1867): Sabine Baring Gould (1834–1924)
- Music (1868): Henry Thomas Smart (1813–1879)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune REX GLORIAE by Henry Thomas Smart (1813–1879); words by Bernhardt Severin Ingemann (1789–1862); translated by Sabine Baring Gould (1834–1924). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this hymn as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Sung to the same tune: Lo He Comes! Whom Every Nation.
Questions about Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow
What is the doh of Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow?
In this version, in A major, doh is A. If your choir sings it in another key, doh moves to the new key note and every solfa syllable stays the same — that is what movable doh means.
What note does Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow start on?
It starts on d (A in A major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow in the public domain?
Yes. Bernhardt Severin Ingemann died in 1862, Sabine Baring Gould died in 1924, Henry Thomas Smart died in 1879; the words were first published in 1867 and the music in 1868. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in Nigeria, the UK, the EU and the United States. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.